This is a re-print of last year’s blog, returning in honour of Canada Day. As summer comes to a close, and this writer returns from a week of paddling on the French River, it seems…
Posts By Brooke Jeffrey
Whither the Poilievre Party? Polls vs. Byelections
Anyone with only a passing interest in Canadian politics might be inclined to think the Poilievre Conservatives are in good shape and poised to win the next federal election. Most public opinion polls, after all,…
What to Do With the RCMP?
Media coverage of the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission’s recent report have concentrated on the perceived incompetence of the RCMP. On the one hand, this is not surprising. Certainly there were a number of problems…
Foreign Interference and National Security, Part II: Forget Election Interference, Focus on the PRC’s Many More Effective Efforts at Domestic Meddling
It is surely a depressing sign of the times when media attention, public opinion and opposition political parties can be so easily influenced by the views of an individual guilty of violating the national security…
The Manufactured Foreign Interference/National Security “Crisis”: The Danger of Political Spin in an Era of Hyperpartisan Politics
At a recent conference sponsored by the venerable Institute of Public Administration in Canada (IPAC), participants in the lead panel discussed “Politics: A Return to Civility, What Would it Take?” Strikingly, there was no dissent…
Politicians Like Poilievre, Smith and Ford are the Cause of Antidemocratic Behaviour
When Justice Paul Rouleau tabled his long anticipated report on the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre was in a tight spot. Not only did Rouleau confirm that the…
The Real Problem With a Special Ambassador on Combatting Islamophobia
The current controversy over the appointment of Almira Elghawaby as a Special Ambassador to Combat Islamophobia is focusing on all the wrong issues. There is certainly a problem, but it is not with the individual…
Can Pierre Poilievre Tell Fact from Fiction?
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre rarely questions facts and figures presented by the Liberal government in support of its legislation or other policy initiatives. Instead, he much prefers to question what they are NOT saying, implying…
Danielle Smith: Not a Laughing Matter
Journalists have had a field day mocking Alberta premier Danielle Smith’s farcical statement “It’s not like Ottawa is a national government. The way our country works is that we are a federation of sovereign, independent…
Is Canada Becoming a Banana Republic?
When Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland testified before the Public Order Emergency Commission in late November, she emphasized the economic concerns that she and her officials had confronted during the illegal border blockades and occupation of…
